In recent years, mobile electronic products have become increasingly popular. The mobile telephone is one type of mobile electronic product that has become nearly ubiquitous in today's society. Such mobile electronic devices are routinely carried on the person of the owner at all times. Although such constant availability of such devices provides a benefit to the user, such constant use of such devices exposes these devices to changes in weather conditions and inadvertent exposure to various substances. For instance, a mobile telephone may be exposed to liquid water during a rain storm or by inadvertent spilling of a liquid. Such exposure can cause an electronic mobile telephone to malfunction, or in other instances, cause an electronic mobile telephone to completely cease working.
Some prior art has inadequately attempted to address the concern of exposure to liquids for electronic devices. For instance, EP1622280 provides a mobile telephone case where the entire telephone is placed in an internal cavity of a sealable case. Of course, the mobile telephone would need to be removed during use, and thus, no protection would be provided during use. JP2004016360 provides a similar waterproof case for a mobile telephone. Again, the entire telephone must be inserted into the case, which would greatly increases the overall bulk of components that a user must carry on his or her person. Still further, during use, the case would need to be opened to access the telephone. Thus, the case would not prevent liquid exposure during use.
In contrast to placing an entire electronic device in a waterproof container, some prior art examples have attempted to seal various portions of electronic devices. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,714,439 is directed to an electrical connector with an annular seal. As shown in FIG. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,714,439, the seal is sized to seal around the periphery of the cylindrical components that are affixed in a compact and static configuration.
Nevertheless, such an annular seal around the periphery of static cylindrical components is not suitable for sealing electronic devices that include movable components and/or components that are not cylindrical. One example of such a device is a telephone with a clam-shaped housing having a connection between the two portions of the telephone housing. In order to prevent liquids from entering such a telephone, the entry point on each half of the telephone that accepts the structure that connects the two halves of the telephone housing must be sealed. The sealing of such an entry point is further complicated by the flexible characteristics and generally flattened or rectangular shape of the structure that connects the two halves of the telephone. An annular seal does not suffice for a sealing a generally flattened or rectangular shaped structure. Furthermore, with the ever decreasing size of components for electronic devices, the small size of annular seal would make it quite difficult to visually determine if the seal was properly installed.
The marketplace lacks a solution to seal a portable electronic device having movable components, such as a mobile telephone, without resorting to placing the entire portable electronic device within a separate case. Furthermore, no solution previously presented for sealing components in electronic devices is adaptable for providing a seal for electronic devices having a housing of two or more portions where the seal provides a visual indicator that the seal is properly installed.